Mike O'Malley, who played Cory Monteith's stepfather on Glee, remembered the late actor during the panel for his new NBC show, Welcome to the Family, on Saturday, July 27. Credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

The Glee cast is still coming to terms with Cory Monteith's tragic July 13 death. Mike O'Malley, who played Monteith's stepfather on Glee, Burt Hummel, remembered the late actor during the panel for his new NBC show, Welcome to the Family, at the 2013 Summer Press Tour on Saturday, July 27. During the panel, O'Malley recalled his most memorable Glee episode with the Canadian native.

"Many of my scenes on Glee were with usually with either Chris Colfer or Cory Monteith," the 46-year-old said. "And I think that I had what was probably the toughest scene I’ve ever acted in my career as an actor opposite him when I had to throw him [Finn] out of the house because of a slur that he used."

"It was remarkable to me, when we were shooting that scene over and over again, the depth of emotion he was able to portray, the sorrow, the shame," he continued. "Ever since I met him, he was the fictional quarterback on that show, and he was the very real quarterback on that set."

"A guy who was welcoming to everyone who came on that show, from the beginning through the new folks who came onto the show this past year," he shared. "And he was a very, very hardworking actor. And I just loved working with him. He was a great guy, and I miss him very much."

As the Glee cast tries to cope with the tragic loss, O'Malley said that he hopes to return as Burt for the fifth season tribute episode that Glee co-creatorRyan Murphy is planning for Monteith.

"I hope to," he said. "Burt is a very, very important role to me. It’s been a great, great part, and I’ve said to all those guys that I will work early in the morning, late at night, Saturdays, Sundays, whatever I need to do to participate in, not only continuing to be on that show, but honoring Cory and his passing and that character."

Since Monteith was found dead in his Vancouver hotel room on July 13 from a lethal dose of heroin and alcohol, Murphy announced that production for the fifth season has been delayed. The network also moved the premiere date to Sept. 26 from its original Sept. 19 air date.

"It’s just a crazy, really difficult, very emotional time," Murphy toldTV Line. "I think what we’re really trying to do is deal with it as a family, which is what that group of people is."